Villas on Bluefields Bay - Caribbean Travel and Life August/September 2006

Visit the Villas

From Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine's September 2006 Issue

By Peter Zaremba - Photography by Greg Johnston

THE BAND'S ROOTSY SOUND cast a pitch-perfect tone over a torch-lit dinner of grilled lobster tails and "stamp and go" (cod fritters) on the beach at Sandals Whitehouse, the chain's out-of-the-way retreat that opened last year. Not only is Sandals alone on a beautiful two-mile stretch of beach, it's the sole major resort on the entire south coast. And yes, it's big and shiny, but the hotel is set within a 500-acre nature reserve, and its sleepy southwest setting is just right for a nostalgia trip.

The Whitehouse area is "the way Jamaica was when I was a kid says Sandals impresario Butch Stewart, who often drove past this hidden gem of a location in his former life as an appliance salesman. Seven restaurants, 360 all-inclusive rooms (butler service optional) and the country's largest swimming pool later, Whitehouse and its environs manage to retain their unhurried appeal.

Focused on agriculture and considered remote, the southwestern coast has always been mostly left to itself. That's partly because much of the shoreline is unappealing, with rough water and dark sand - though white-sand Whitehouse Beach is not the only enticing stretch. When Jamaicans themselves long for a bit less of the tourist-centered north-coast liveliness, they pop over the island's mountainous spine from Montego Bay and seek out the laid-back rhythm of this less-trammeled precinct, where the country's fabled "no problem" attitude toward neighbor and visitor alike remains an everyday reality.

EIGHT MILES WEST OF Whitehouse, Bluefields Bay is possibly the south coast's most beautiful, with turquoise and cobalt waters backed by lush green mountains. The name derives from a 17th-century Dutch buccaneer, Abraham Blauvelt (known as Blewfields to the English), who hid out here. Now the site of a small fishing village, this quiet spot has played a pivotal role in world history. In 1670, Captain Morgan marshaled his fleet here before setting out to devastate Panama, and it was at Bluefields Greathouse that Lt. Governor Campbell and Captain Bligh hatched the idea for HMS Bounty's voyage to Tahiti. One of the original breadfruit trees brought back by the indomitable Bligh still stands nearby.

"I remember Negril when it was like this," recalled Mr. Wallace, owner of Casa Mariner, a locally popular seaside cottage inn-cum-restaurant that's typical of the south coast. Small-scale and blending into the landscape, the hotel expresses a pioneer spirit that meshes with the region's sense of individualism verging on eccentricity. Take German expat Frank Lohmann, who stumbled upon Shafston Greathouse "with water coming through the roof and goats living in it" but saw its potential. Having resurrected Shafston as an inn, Lohmann now spends his days rigging cables to send visitors zipping over the forest canopy in an aerial bobsled.

I met up with Vaughan Turland, co-owner of Reliable Adventures, at the Bluefields Peoples' Community Association, where fishermen beach their boats under the seagrape trees and discuss the day's catch. These same fishermen guide Reliable's tours of the bay, encountering dolphins and even the occasional manatee. This community-based approach to tourism is designed to expand job opportunities and preserve traditions by providing authentic experiences for visitors - an idea that's being put into practice across the south coast.

On a two-hour hike up into the woodlands with Turland, we encountered six of Jamaica's 27 endemic species of birds without trying, including the beautiful little emerald and crimson Jamaican Tody. As we ascended, increasingly spectacular vistas of countryside and sea opened before us. Eventually, we reached the tiny hill community of Belvedere, where walking and donkeys are still the principal modes of transportation. Nestled among pimento trees, the cottages here are often equipped with old concrete platforms known as barbecues for drying the seeds we call allspice. We stopped for a cool drink at Bob's Café, as typical a Jamaican country place as can be found.

Back at sea level, just steps from the water and almost hidden in jungle-like gardens, the five fully staffed Bluefields Villas epitomize the kind of style that years ago made Jamaica the birthplace of the luxurious Caribbean getaway. Open to expansive sunset views, they incorporate traditional Jamaican materials like guango wood and local marble, and are filled with fine West Indian antiques such as mahogany four-poster beds. The guests at Villa San Michele looked as if they had thoroughly enjoyed the simple pleasure of spending their entire holiday in their bathing suits. With Negril 45 minutes and a world away, one supremely relaxed guest quipped that Bluefields enjoyed "all the nightlife you can make."

By day, the ambitious can stroll from the pool to the beach, or wet a line with one of the local fishermen. "Just ask for Herman," the villa guests recommended - good advice judging from the five-foot kingfish they'd caught with him and were devouring for lunch. While I checked out another house, Cottonwood Cottage, a staffer asked, "Can you believe there's a house in Jamaica without doors?" On purpose? No. But neither had I been in Bluefields before. Perhaps the security and good will are a product of that concerted effort to "make sure the community benefits from development," said Debbie Moncure, owner of the five villas. Her husband serves with the community association, and the couple funds early education at the local school. The Moncures have gone so far as to institute a 2-percent voluntary community fee on all their rentals, which, Debbie noted, every guest save one has been happy to pay.

This article continues with other south coast information, such as:

When to Go
Lying in the rain shadow of the island's central mountains, the south coast receives the least precipitation in all of Jamaica.

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